When Crisis Strikes

By: Loren Wassell

What you need to do now — and what you should have done sooner

When a crisis strikes your organization, your reputation is in jeopardy and survival ultimately may be at stake.

Almost by definition, the information available to you is incomplete. It will be uncertain, conflicting and may very well be wrong. But the need for action is immediate.

Planning and preparation can help your organization deal promptly with a crisis. But, once it hits, you’ll have to act. You can’t call a time-out on fast-moving events.

When things go wrong, you need to communicate what you are doing to set them right.

A crisis is a defining moment for an organization, whether it’s a product recall, a security breach or a management scandal. With or without preparation, you need to be human and genuinely represent your values. If you are shocked or saddened by an event, say so. If you regret something happened, you should say that, too. If you will offer assistance, let the world know.

Institutions have a disadvantage in dealing with human issues, because institutions don’t have emotions. People who become leaders are generally guarded about showing their emotions. This may be helpful when the board of directors is discussing a difficult issue. But in a crisis, in the public eye, it’s critical to put a caring human face on your company or organization.

If you have the foresight to prepare for a future crisis, you need to build relationships with your key constituencies. If they know you to be good – competent and caring – you will have the benefit of the doubt and better chances of retaining their support. If they don’t know you at all, you will have to overcome that gap before you can begin to recover. It’s easy to believe the worst about an institution that has no human face.

Let’s look at some of the challenges institutions face when they communicate about issues, which are magnified when the issues bloom into a crisis. Then we will suggest practical actions you can take to prepare and protect your organization.

Communication Challenges

When the subject of communications is a “low-trust, high-concern” situation, such as environmental or health issues, facts are only the first ingredient. More than 10 years ago, Dr. Vincent T. Covello, director of the Center for Risk Communication, established that competence and expertise provide only a fraction of effective communications.

His research demonstrated that caring and empathy are the most important factors in trust and credibility of environmental communication, as summarized in this chart.

Even the world’s greatest expert (competence) will fall short of a passing grade without empathy. An aphorism often quoted by Covello and others: "People never care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Another leading expert in risk communication, Dr. Peter M. Sandman, points out that empathy can be counter-intuitive. "I know how you feel," may not be received as sympathy, but may prompt an angry response, "No, you don't." "I can't imagine how you feel," may be more effective at establishing a bond of empathy.

Sandman’s priceless contribution to the field of risk communication was a formula that applies to emotional issues: Risk = Hazard + Outrage. Breaking this code is crucial to dealing with concerned people. In short, most experts view risk as a statistical exercise and view an unlikely outcome as a low risk. Sandman considers that element of risk the "hazard," but notes that people’s total risk perception is also affected by the emotional factor he calls "outrage."

Regardless of the statistical hazard, outrage can magnify the emotional impact. Here are some of the 12 factors Sandman identified that influence perceptions of safety:

Coerced vs. Voluntary - People who smoke may still object to industrial air emissions, even if the tobacco is a far more significant risk to their health.

Exotic vs. Familiar - Travel by commercial airplanes is far safer than driving your own car; this factor helps explain how flying can seem "scarier" even if it's not.

Unresponsive Process vs. Responsive Process - This explains why "we meet all government requirements" often fails to reassure. While regulations and permits nominally involve public input, most people feel they have little control over them and increase their "outrage" accordingly. Building effective two-way relationships opens the process, creates trust and calms concerns.

How to Prepare for a Crisis

There are two challenges to overcome in planning for a crisis. One is that it requires you to think about the unthinkable. Once you start, the types of potential crises and possible variations can be overwhelming. Even if you fill a warehouse with three-ring binders, there's a good chance that the real crisis you face won't fit any of the scenarios you envisioned.

The key to successful crisis planning is to put the fundamentals in place. Here are questions you should ask yourself:

• Do we have a written crisis plan?
• How frequently do we practice crisis scenarios?
• Do we have trained spokespersons who can speak effectively for our organization?
• Do we have team members designated for communicating with each key stakeholder group?
• Do we have clear lines of communication within the management team?

If you can answer "yes" to most of these questions, and if you have ever conducted a real crisis drill, you are far better prepared than many of your peers.

It's not necessary to develop an infinite number of scenarios. It is productive to consider what types of crises your organization might encounter. Some are common across all kinds of institutions. It could be a management issue - the sudden death or disability of a key leader or allegations of serious misdeeds; it could be some sort of accident or disaster; or it could be a disruption of ordinary operations. The nature of your operations and the potential disruption will be unique to your institution, but all organizations face this type of problem.

Next, consider who in your organization would be a key part of response and recovery. This is not based on your organizational chart; it's based on who has the knowledge that will be needed. And, decide how and where you would connect this team. In terms of crisis planning, you are on your way.

Conducting drills to see how your plan would work in a realistic scenario will be priceless. Conflicting priorities will be exposed. Unanswered questions will be asked. Unmet needs will be identified. Reviewing the results will help you resolve these issues; the next drill will probably expose a whole new set, and each drill will make you better prepared for the real event.

Thinking about your key stakeholders - customers, investors, employees, governments and community neighbors - will lead you to nurture your relationships with each of them. When crisis strikes, your relationships will sustain your credibility and earn you the freedom to control your fate.

A seasoned communications executive once said, "Your PR cannot rise very far above your actual performance." But effective communications will ensure you get credit for your performance and elevate your reputation accordingly.